Effect of Peer Mentorship on Osteopathic Medical Student Outcomes

Medical students are expected to quickly acclimate to the rigorous pre-clinical coursework of the first and second years, before proceeding to their clinical rotations in the third and fourth years. This can be daunting, overwhelming, and difficult without insight into how to best navigate this experience. Institutions help students adjust to medical school by implementing peer-mentorship programs. These programs aim to ease the transition into medical school; however, ensuring the paired mentor and mentee are an effective match can be a difficult task. With that in mind, we were interested in evaluating the Marian University Wood College of Osteopathic Medicine (MU-WCOM) peer-mentorship program by assessing the efficacy of this program throughout the pre-clinical coursework of the first and second years and during the clinical rotations in the third and fourth years. The data collected involved gathering perspective from multiple graduating classes within MU-WCOM allowing us to draw conclusions about the program using the perspectives of both mentors and mentees. We measured various metrics of student experiences in the mentorship program using Likert scales and supporting qualitative evidence to explain reported experiences. Participants categorized their most influential mentors over the course of their time in medical school, and evaluated their experience as a mentee (and as a mentor, if applicable). Using this data, we hope to synthesize recommendations on how to improve the peer-mentorship program. Furthermore, we would like to determine if there is a more advantageous way to match the mentors with the mentees.